Game



Oct 29, 1940- J. c. GILLl-:SPIE 2,219,675l

GAME 'l v v Filed Dec. 50, 1938- -v J @of 2 Patented Oct. 29, 1940UNITED vSTATES PATENT OFFICE 5 Claims.

This invention relating as indicated to games is more particularlydirected to an indoor marble game played upon a marked off horizontalsurface. The marbles are adapted to be racked to` form an open V and theshooter assumes a shooting position opposite to such V. The horizontalsurface is provided with pockets into which the balls or marbles areimpelled and the surface is surrounded by a raised border somewhat inthe nature of a retaining Wall so as to retain the marbles upon thesurface. Various games can-be played as will be described more in detailhereinafter.

l -destruction of any of its parts. 20

V'The game apparatus may be formed of wood, metal, papier-machecardboard or equivalent material. In its more expensive form thehorizontal surface may be covered with felt which is appropriatelymarked and the retaining wall may be provided with cushioning materialsuch as sponge rubber or the like but neither of these are necessary.

In another embodiment the playing surface and'retaining'wall may beformed of metal and in this instance the metal of the surface can beextruded to form pockets which also servey as y supporting legs.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention,then consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularlypointed out in the claims; the annexed drawing and the followingdescription setting forth in detail certain mechanism constituting,however, but one of various applications of the principles of myinvention.

In said annexed drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan View taken from above.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a partial vertical section taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the rack.

Fig. 5 is a compositeview of three of the balls Yor marbles used inplaying the game.

Fig. 6 is a partial vertical section taken on line 6 6 of Fig. 1 andFig. 7 is a central vertical section of a modificatio'n.

Y lReferring now to the drawing and more particularly to Fig. 1 it willbe seen that my game 'apparatus comprises a,tablelike,member hav.-

fto receive pockets 9, I0, II and I2.

ing a horizontal base I to which is attached a raised border orretaining wall 2, such attachment being made through the medium ofscrews or other joining means. The base I is preferably but notnecessarily covered with a felt surface 4 andthe base as well as thefelt are apertured The entire apparatus is supported upon legs'5, 6, 'Iand 8 and it is, of course, optional to provide more legs and morepockets. The felt surface 4 has imprinted or otherwise applied thereto amarking inthe form of an open V I3. This marking comprises tworelatively wide bars meeting at an angle somewhat in the form of achevron and is located closely adjacent the letter N which in turn isclosely adjacent the pocket I0. A dot I4, preferably round, is locatedadjacent the letter S, which it will be noted, adjoins the pocket I2which is opposite the pocket IIJ. It will also be observed that theangle of the open V marking I3 extends toward the shooters position I4.The table also contains a circular marking I5 Awhich is concentric withthe rim or retaining wall 2 and the circle thus described is bisected bylines I6 and I'I to form four. quadrants. The

pockets are designated E, W, N, and S, the words being abbreviated asshown. This is done in or- Vder to name any particular pocket into whichthe shooter hopes to impel a marble.

A number of different games can be played with this apparatus and in allof these the marbles, which are numbered from l to 17, are racked up bymeans of the rack generally indicated by the numeral Il in Fig. 4. Thisrack comprises a hollow V vshaped member having end walls 2l and 22,outer walls I 8 and 2I. and inner walls I9 and 20. The rack is placedover the marking I3 and if it is desired to play the game in itssimplestform the marbles l to 1'7 are placed in the rackindiscriminately. The shooter then places his knuckle on the marking I4and attempts to shoot various marbles into the dinerent pockets. If itis desired to play rotation the marbles are racked up so that the ballnumbered l isplaced at the apex of the V and the adjoining ballsincrease progressively to the ends of the broad bands forming the V. Theshooter then attempts to rst knock the ball marked l into a pocket andif he misses, the next shooter takes his turn, stopping when he hasmissed, it being understood that the balls are used Ain numerical order.

Stated more Adefinitely the marbles are racked .into position,A thefirst player then shoots the white or plain marble withhisthumb from thedot near the south pocket. The player or succeeding players thencontinue to shoot from the place where the plain or shooter marblestops.

If the plain or shooter marble should fall into a pocket or jump fromthe table the player loses his turn and any numbered marble made on thatplay must be returned to the V. The next player then places the plain orshooter marble on the spot I4 and proceeds as before, with the exceptionthat he may shoot at marbles only within the circle and north ofhorizontal line I6 running from E to W. In the event there are nomarbles Within the circle north of the horizontal line, the marblenearest to starting spot I4 is then placed on the apex of the V and theplayer then proceeds to shoot at it.

If the player should knock a numbered marble off the table the marble isthen placed on the V and the next player proceeds to shoot from theposition upon which the shooter stops. If the player should knock thelast numbered marble olf the table or into a pocket other than the onespecied the marble is then returned to the apex of the V and the nextplayer proceeds to shoot from the starting spot.

A further game may be played known as nineball and in this case the 9ball itself is placed upon the apex of the open V and balls numberedfrom 10 to 17 are aligned along one leg of the marking i3. Ballsnumbered 1 to 8 are placed along the other leg and each shooter thenattempts to impel the balls along one leg into a pocket, shooting at the9 ball last. This game is, of course, for two players only.

In Fig. 7 I have shown a modification composed of metal. In thisembodiment of the invention the surface 3l is not provided with felt andthe retaining wall 30 may be integrally formed therewith. Likewise, thepockets 33 and 3d may be pressed out of the playing surface El toprovide a relatively inexpensive game. If desired the pockets may beseparately attached as is the case with pocket 35 and it will beunderstood that additional pockets may be provided as necessary. Pocket35 is illustrated as being Welded at 32 but may be secured in any otherdesired manner. The pockets in the Fig. 7 modification are preferablydeep and fiaring so as to entrap a ball propelled thereinto as otherwisethe balls or marbles would have a tendency to bounce out of the pocket.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided agame which will afford ample amusement and will render it possible toplay marbles in an entertaining manner in the interior of livingquarters. This makes it possible for a child to play an entertaininggame indoors when inclement weather prevails.

It will also be seen that I have provided a game which employs noexpensive accessories, such as cues and the like and all the movingparts may be readily replaced at very small cost. This last result isobtained because conventional marbles of diiferent colors may be easilynumbered and used when any of the original marbles have become lost ordestroyed. There have been many marble games used in the past but inmost of these when one part becomes lost the game is renderedinoperative. In my game this is impossible because of the ease and smallexpense attached to replacing the marbles. My game differs from othergames involving mechanical cues in that it is strictly a game of skillWhereas such other games are merely games of chance and rapidly losetheir appeal.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employedinstead of the one explained, change being made as regards the means andthe steps herein disclosed, provided those stated by any of thefollowing claims or their equivalent be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

l. In a device of the character described, a horizontal playing surface,a retaining Wall surrounding said surface and extending vertically aboveit, pockets in said surface adjacent said wall, indicia on said surfaceadjacent each pocket and a positioning mark upon said surface comprisingtwo broad bands meeting at an angle in a color contrasting to that ofsaid surface, said mark being located adjacent one of said pockets, andanother mark indicating a shooters position, said last named mark beinglocated adjacent a pocket opposite to said first named pocket, saidpositioning mark being adapted to receive marbles aline in an open Vformation.

2. In a device of the character described, a horizontal playing surface,a retaining wall surrounding said surface and extending vertically aboveit, pockets in said surface adjacent said Wall, indicia on said surfaceadjacent each pocket and a positioning mark upon said surface comprisingtwo broad bands meeting at an angle in a color contrasting to that ofsaid surface, said mark being located adjacent one of said pockets, andanother mark indicating a shooters position, said last named mark beinglocated adjacent a pocket opposite to said rst named pocket, the angleof said rst named mark pointing to- Ward said last named mark, saidpositioning mark being adapted to receive marbles aline in an open Vformation.

3. In a device of the character described, a horizontal playing surface,a retaining Wall surrounding said surface and extending vertically aboveit, pockets in said surface adjacent said wall, indicia on said surfaceadjacent each pocket and a positioning mark upon said surface comprisingtwo broad bands meeting at an angle in a color contrasting to that ofsaid surface, said mark being located adjacent one of said pockets, andanother mark indicating a shooters position, said last named mark beinglocated adjacent a pocket opposite to said first named pocket, the angleof said rst named mark pointing toward said last named mark, saidsurface being supported upon a number of legs, each of which has alength greater than that of said pockets, said positioning mark beingadapted to receive marbles aline in an open V formation.

e. In a device of the character described, a horizontal playing surface,a retaining wall surrounding said surface and extending vertically aboveit, pockets in said surface adjacent said wall, indicia on said surfaceadjacent each pocket and a mark upon said surface comprising two bandsmeeting at an angle, to form an open V in a color contrasting to that ofsaid surface, said surface and wall having a circular configuration andsaid surface having a circle marked thereon, a shooters mark on saidcircle diametrically opposite to said first named mark, said circlebeing concentric with said Wall the ends of said first named markterminating upon said circle and the apex of said V being within saidcircle.

5. In a device of the character described, a horizontal playing surface,a retaining wall surrounding said surface and extending vertically aboveit, pockets in said surface adjacent said 75 wall, indicia on saidsurface adjacent each pocket and a mark upon said surface comprising tWobands meeting at an angle, to form an open V in a color contrasting tothat of said surface, said surface and Wall having a circularconfiguration and said surface having a circle marked thereon, ashooters mark on said circle diametrically opposite to said first namedmark said circle being concentric with said Wall, and said circle beingmarked off in quadrant lines with one of said quadrant lines passingthrough the apex of said V. Y

JOSEPH C. GILLESPIE.

